# Kingsford or Royal Oak?



## boonedoggle (Jun 23, 2006)

Aside from the people that grill on wood or lump, which do you prefer? I grew up on Royal Oak; the old man always used the stuff to help us growing boys. I typically use Kingsford, but today I picked up a bag of RO. I tell you what, that is some ugly charcoal next to the Kingsford...but I'm all about performance! Which do you prefer?


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## DonnieW (Jul 2, 2008)

If only the two available - Royal Oak Lump hands down. It can be a pain to light without fluid (for us smokers), but it is nice to work with.


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## Darrell (Aug 12, 2007)

I prefer Royal Oak, but 9/10 I grab Kingsford because it's always in stock.


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## boonedoggle (Jun 23, 2006)

most of the lump I've gotten is too beat up. Too many small pieces that fall through the grill. I did almost pick up the lump today, but remembered that.


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## Smokin Gator (Aug 17, 2008)

You should really try to use lump or all natural briqs like Wicked Good or Rancher. The chemicals in most briqs make a cigarette look like health food.

Trust me on this one.

BTW... a good way to be able to use lump in most charcoal grills is to buy an extra charcoal grate and turn it 90 degrees. That way the smaller pieces won't fall through.


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## :eevis (Jul 1, 2008)

I use Royal Oak Briq. 95% of the time. Kingsford in a pinch, even though I do think that it tends to burn longer. I just prefer the taste of the Royal oak. But to each their own. Just as long as long as there is no lighter fluid used. Gotta have a chimney.


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## ucla695 (Jun 27, 2006)

I've always used Kingsford, but I'll try RO the next time I buy charcoal.


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## Mark C (Sep 19, 2007)

I've never seen RO in any of the local stores. All we get here is Kingsford. I order Wicked Good online. The briquettes are amazing, can't get enough of those things.


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## Puro_Angler (Mar 23, 2006)

Definitely Royal Oak lump. B&B lump is pretty good too.


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## mosesbotbol (Sep 21, 2005)

Niether. Cowboy Charcoal is the way to go. Lights fast, light ash, pure wood...


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## SMcGregor (Dec 4, 2006)

Kingsford for me, or if I am lighting the smoker up I will use either solid wood.

Shawn


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## awsmith4 (Jun 5, 2007)

I use Royal Oak 99% of the time. I prefer Cowboy but I get the same size bag RO for $7 and the Cowboy is $11.


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## Smokin Gator (Aug 17, 2008)

Ugh!!! The Cowboy I have tried was horrible. I literally threw it away. I didn't like the aroma and the stuff is supposed to be made of flooring scraps. It sure looked like it and I just didn't trust it.

RO lump is usually $5.27 at Wally World for a $10 bag. I thin it is hard to beat that.



mosesbotbol said:


> Niether. Cowboy Charcoal is the way to go. Lights fast, light ash, pure wood...


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## mosesbotbol (Sep 21, 2005)

Smokin Gator said:


> Ugh!!! The Cowboy I have tried was horrible. I literally threw it away. I didn't like the aroma and the stuff is supposed to be made of flooring scraps. It sure looked like it and I just didn't trust it.
> 
> RO lump is usually $5.27 at Wally World for a $10 bag. I thin it is hard to beat that.


Funny, I find RO harder to light, but does burn longer. I did not think it looks like flooring scraps. I did not notice a flavor improvement from RO over Cowboy, but haven't used them side-by-side.


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## livwire68 (Oct 2, 2006)

Depends on what I am using it for. Kingsford lasts longer and I dont have to tend to it as often in the smoker, lump burns hotter and faster. I have used RO and cowboy, RO seemed to have larger useable chunks, while CB was smaller (And I thought it looked also like scraps of wood working products) Flavor wise I have never done a comparison and probally wouldnt tell the difference in smoking. Some of the same types of wood can differ as well when smoking. I have seen hickory chunks with moss on em'. If grilling a fairly quick or smaller meal I would use lump, smoking I use kingsford (less tending to the fire) Most will say briquettes have a filler/binder which will change the flavor, my understanding is it is just a starch.


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## Smokin Gator (Aug 17, 2008)

livwire68 said:


> Depends on what I am using it for. Kingsford lasts longer and I dont have to tend to it as often in the smoker, lump burns hotter and faster. I have used RO and cowboy, RO seemed to have larger useable chunks, while CB was smaller (And I thought it looked also like scraps of wood working products) Flavor wise I have never done a comparison and probally wouldnt tell the difference in smoking. Some of the same types of wood can differ as well when smoking. I have seen hickory chunks with moss on em'. If grilling a fairly quick or smaller meal I would use lump, smoking I use kingsford (less tending to the fire) Most will say briquettes have a filler/binder which will change the flavor, my understanding is it is just a starch.


Pretty much dead on... the binder in briqs is usually some type of starch. In most natural briqs it is something like yucca starch. The problem with big time commercial briqs is they put lots of chemicals in the mix along with clay like substances to make them ash over so people who don't know any better will know when the briqs are ready for cooking.


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## Buddha024 (Jul 31, 2008)

I have a big grill so I prefer the RO lump charcoal because it burns hotter. 



:ss :w :ss


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## jquirit (May 14, 2007)

I still got about three bags of the single run of the Original Charcoal Company Rancher's briquettes  that Home Depot did. Great stuff, ashes very fine and burns very hot. It does get a bit "dusty" when dealing with a lot of wind (fine ash), but it doesn't cause too much of a problem. Used it many a times to barbeque in the Weber kettle and it works great using a modified Minion method.

When these three bags run out, then I'm stuck with a dilemma on what to get. I'd probably go lump with Royal Oak.


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## Smokin Gator (Aug 17, 2008)

jquirit said:


> I still got about three bags of the single run of the Original Charcoal Company Rancher's briquettes  that Home Depot did. Great stuff, ashes very fine and burns very hot. It does get a bit "dusty" when dealing with a lot of wind (fine ash), but it doesn't cause too much of a problem. Used it many a times to barbeque in the Weber kettle and it works great using a modified Minion method.
> 
> When these three bags run out, then I'm stuck with a dilemma on what to get. I'd probably go lump with Royal Oak.


I bought a pallet of that from HD for $2.99/bag. Best charcoal deal ever. I am down to my last 2 1/2 bags. I only use it for competitions so I am good until the end of the season as we only have two left. After that I guess I will have to figure out how to get a pallet deliver from NC.


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## raisin (Dec 3, 2005)

Smokin Gator said:


> You should really try to use lump or all natural briqs like Wicked Good or Rancher. The chemicals in most briqs make a cigarette look like health food.
> 
> Trust me on this one.
> 
> BTW... a good way to be able to use lump in most charcoal grills is to buy an extra charcoal grate and turn it 90 degrees. That way the smaller pieces won't fall through.





Smokin Gator said:


> Pretty much dead on... the binder in briqs is usually some type of starch. In most natural briqs it is something like yucca starch. The problem with big time commercial briqs is they put lots of chemicals in the mix along with clay like substances to make them ash over so people who don't know any better will know when the briqs are
> ready for cooking.


Kingsford is a real witch's brew, it's got more COAL and PEAT than real charcoal in it's formula, and those are the GOOD ingredients! All you would ever want to know, can be found here;

http://www.nakedwhiz.com/lump.htm

Royal Oak lump used to be real good, but now the charcoal is all/mostly sourced in South America. Little that goes on down there in this regard is good, so i try to stick to domesticaly produced lump.

Cowboy does burn hot, a function of it's low density, and leaves almost no ash. The flip side of this is that it also imparts no "wood flavor" to the cook, because it is made from previously kiln-dryed moldings and flooring cutoffs. As far as taste elements go, this stuff is double-roasted.

Really good charcoal production is a true artform, because the trick is to not totally convert 100% of the wood into charcoal. In the center of the pile, and in the larger chucks there should still be some wood essence left behind to impart the cooking flavors that are so desireable.

What do i use? I drive three states away and buy a truckload of a local housebrand every year or so. (yes, I AM serious about my charcoal!)

http://www.nakedwhiz.com/lumpdatabase/lumpbag55.htm


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## Smokin Gator (Aug 17, 2008)

raisin said:


> Royal Oak lump used to be real good, but now the charcoal is all/mostly sourced in South America. Little that goes on down there in this regard is good, so i try to stick to domesticaly produced lump.
> 
> http://www.nakedwhiz.com/lumpdatabase/lumpbag55.htm


Look on the bags of RO... all of the ones I have say US origin. I have heard of the SA ones but haven't seen them.

I agree on checking things vs naked whiz. I have used that for a long time.


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## Mark C (Sep 19, 2007)

Smokin Gator said:


> Look on the bags of RO... all of the ones I have say US origin. I have heard of the SA ones but haven't seen them.
> 
> I agree on checking things vs naked whiz. I have used that for a long time.


Wicked Good comes from SA, and that's an awesome bag of charcoal. Just because it's from SA doesn't mean it ain't any good.


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## mosesbotbol (Sep 21, 2005)

I like break up logs (that are half way cooked through) that I used in the smoker and retain them for charcoal. I'll mix them with whatever brand I use, which is usually Cowboy. Applewood is the most common in New England, trailed by Maple and Cherry.

I can get good size logs for $1.50 each and one log will go about an hour on my smoker.


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